India maintain 4th spot in ICC ODI rankings

2011 world cup winners India have maintained their ranking at the fourth spot in the ICC ODI rankings. Although, the team last played a one-dayer against England in early January, the team haven’t slumped to a lower ranking.

Team India, currently led by Virat Kohli, have a total of 112 rating points. South Africa tops the chart with 119 rating points, with current world champions Australia closing in on 118 points. 2015 world cup runners-up New Zealand are at the third place with 113 rating points.

Teams will look to feature amongst the top 7 in order to secure a berth in the 2019 World Cup. Along with hosts England, the top 7 teams as on 30th September 2017, will automatically qualify for the mega-event. The remaining four teams will join a pool of associate nations and battle it out in 10-team qualifying tournament to make it into the world cup’s final draw.

Currently, West Indies, who have won both the 50-over world cup and the 20-over world cup on 2 occasions, find themselves in a spot of bother. The Windies are sitting on 9th position with 84 points. 1992 world champions Pakistan are 5 points ahead of the West Indies, with 89 points.

With the ODI series between these two teams round the corner, the boys from the Caribbean will have a chance to leapfrog Pakistan. However, they must sweep the 3-match ODI series clean. They could then join Pakistan at 87 points and will therefore be ahead of the Asian giants.

On the other hand, Pakistan have a chance of joining Bangladesh at 92 points if they hand hosts West Indies a whitewash in the upcoming series. In doing so, Pakistan could push Bangladesh down to no.8 and breathe a sigh of relief.

The 2019 Cricket World Cup will be co-hosted by England and Wales, and is scheduled to be played from 30 May to 15 July. This will be the fifth time that the countries will host the mega-event.

Here are the latest ODI team rankings: